Can't Get A Grip....

 It's the same old story being told all across the US (as well as other affluent countries!), the one that starts with the following: I have a weight problem...obesity...fatness...UNpleasingly plumpness...beluga...oink, oink, oink...UGH!!!!

So they say, "Lose weight! Get up and exercise! Lay off the sweets and the sodas! Don't eat much!" What wonderful suggestions!  Uh-Huh....

Okay, there's no magic bullets. Gotta face the facts. I just wish that I wasn't so hungry lots of the time! I try not to eat out of boredom and when I do eat, I don't empty the kitchen! The local buffet bar doesn't close down after I leave their restaurant. My metabolism sucks too! Wait! I take that back! My metabolism doesn't suck, cuz I ain't got any in the first place!

What should I do first? To be honest, it would have to be giving up ALL the sweet sodas. I drink mostly diet, but lately, I've been getting sweet ones out of the coke machines when I'm out and about...

And exercise...hmmm...it's so darned hot I barely wanna leave the house and when I'm in the house I'm always so tired. Exercise bores me too. I have a bad foot that has never been right since I twisted it bad about 10 years ago. But yeah, there's gotta be some sort of activity I can do to get my butt up and moving!

Goodness how I love sweets and for the past few days I've been craving chocolate worse than a starving dog does a steak! Us womenfolk have needs ya know...especially when times are getting close upon us...

Now some folks are such health nuts that they won't eat meat. The same is true of many animal lovers. (I love animals dearly, but my motto is: If I didn't meet it, I can eat it!) I reckon that a shark wouldn't shed a tear over me and he wouldn't even wait 'til I was dead to eat me, so I have no qualms about eating him back! HAH! It's true though that a cow would have no interest in gobbling me up, however, I betcha if I turned green and had petals instead of hair, those cows would show me no mercy either! And too, whenever I've been to a restaurant or a grocery store, the beef is already dead and me not eating him ain't gonna bring him back to life. I won't let his death be in vain, so it's actually my duty to eat him. Ah, I digress...What I'm trying to say here is that I love my protein! Vege's are nice, but they don't stick to my ribs! I ain't no rabbit afterall!

So what's a fat woman to do? I guess I'll have to starve myself to death, cuz nothing else is going to do it! Now if only I could figure out how to starve without knowing I'm hungry....

janet

Hi Janet,

I feel your frustration! (And I love steak and drink too many fizzy drinks!) Someone told me something about diet drinks the other day that shocked the heck out of me: they don't contain "sugar" (the specific chemical compound that we know and love), but they do contain "sugars" (when they say "sweeteners" that's really what they're talking about) and those can and do add weight just as you would expect any general "sugar" to do. And they're all processed and artificial and have a strong tendency to bring you down after the initial rush. So they won't be doing anything for your metabolism or state of mind. One little thing you can do that can really help is, if you take sugar in your tea and/or coffee, use honey or dark dark brown sugar (as unprocessed as possible): they're both much more yummy than the white stuff (and even light brown sugar), and they're (more) natural so you process them better.

Steaks, now they're different and all in all pretty lovely!

You probably actually need *more* of something though ... water. Boring, I know, but actually a glass of water with lots of ice in it on a really hot day -- nothing beats it. It fills you up and cuts down on the cravings, is *really* good for your brain, and it gets your body working more effectively. Bear in mind that I don't always follow my own advice on this one, but when I do I do have to acknowledge the truth of this.

Exercise bores me too: I have a strong disinclination to doing it for the sake of it. But I now walk everywhere and I must've shed about half a stone over the last month. That gets your metabolism working too.

So, from one non-health-freak to another, take care,
Rosie

Hi Janet, I cant give you advice on what your going through personally as I haven’t faced this but I have seen my mother struggle with her weight for years.  My mom was always very thin as a teenager and when she was with my dad and after she had me my father was so obsessed that she would gain weight that he wouldn’t keep food in the house and basically tried to starve her.  So when she left him she started to gain a bunch of weight and had weight problems ever since, most psychological, but unhealthy all the same.  She had to have gastric bypass 2 years ago as she has severe heart problems and has to have valve replacements and couldn’t do it with all the weight.  But on to your post.... I was wondering if you have tried seeking help from like Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers or something of this nature?  It can be very confusing now days on knowing the correct portion sizes to eat and with all the chemicals that are put in foods that are processed what is harmful and what isn’t.  I know that processed carbs are bad for our bodies, such as white breads, sugars...I have cut these things out of my diet.  I only eat whole grains for breads and pasta which is hard as I am Italian and was not raised to eat in this fashion...   Janet, you can do some stretching exercises inside your house, just stretching is going to get your muscles warmed up and feeling better.  Also, maybe if you have a Curves work out center in you town you could look into that?  I know you said exercise bores you...but Curves really only has women that go there and the mast majority of them are over weight.  So you’re not going to see any skinny minnies walking around in spandex showing off for the boys.  I am told they have personal trainers to help get a routine going for you and help guide you when you need it.  And the biggest thing is it isn’t very expensive. Rosie, I have also read the same thing about the diet sodas.  A lot of them are coming out made with Spelnda..do you know if that is also a problem or not?  I am totally addicted to Diet Coke

Thanks all for your kind words...one of my problems is that I feel like my life is so constricted with few pleasures, that if I give up my goodies, what's left?
janet
PS-When mom starts getting her SS, we'll have more money freed up and I hope to join a gym. That won't be until NOvember.